Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes - the Book

As some long time followers of my blog might know, I spent about 5 years drawing and painting the alleyways of downtown Toronto in my spare time, slowly producing the artwork for this book. I've featured maybe a dozen of the drawings and paintings here in my sketch blog over the years, and you can still find them if you go through the archives. Now those drawings, along with many, many more unseen ones are being published in an 80 page artbook.

I am a great fan of urban landscapes and especially of urban photography so I'll definitely buy the book. I take photos of urban landscape everywhere I go and I have to say there's nothing better than a photography trip. What I like above all is the transformation of urban landscapes by photographers giving the images a completely crazy look such as the Orchid Hotel in Tel Aviv by Victor Enrich .

I bought this book yesterday at Toronto's Word on the Street. I'd been eyeballing it at the indie bookstore where I occasionally work but the two copies we got sold almost immediately. I don't live in TO, but this book and your style totally appeal to me. The style takes me back to when I was a kid, reminds me of the endpapers of the books I read. I can't tell you how great that is.

Whenever I visit Toronto, I consider the back alleys my safe places to go because they're empty of people and I can breathe and observe without being overwhelmed. You bring these places to light so well (literally, too; the study of light in these is so excellent) that I appreciate Toronto more.

Please note that I do not do accept any private commissions (comic character sketches, family portraits, etc). I also do not sell any prints of my work online. Sketches and prints can usually be purchased at events that I am personally attending. Thanks for your understanding.

Upcoming Appearances

I'm looking forward to making my first appearance at the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival this year. Should be a fun time - I'll be doing sketches, selling some prints and trying to enjoy the maritime weather!